Social Work Research Guide

The Social Work research guide will help you identify and locate reference tools, books, and indexes for journal articles available online or at the NCSU Libraries.

Social Work is a professional and academic discipline focused on improving conditions for those in need of help or assistance. The field is broad and interdisciplinary, drawing from sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, education, medicine, and public administration. Here are links to Websites, databases, indexes and books that may assist you in your research.

Databases

Social Work and Sociology

Social Services Abstracts
Provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. The database includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations, and citations to book reviews.

Social Work Abstracts
Database contains records, from 1965 - present, from social work and other related journals on topics such as homelessness, AIDS, child and family welfare, aging, substance abuse, legislation, community organization and more.

Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related social and behavioral sciences disciplines. Provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,700 serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.

ProQuest Social Science Journals
Provides indexing and full text for hundreds of academic journals, providing coverage across a wide range of social science disciplines including anthropology, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work and sociology.

ProQuest Sociology
Includes international literature of sociology and social work, including culture and social structure, history and the theory of sociology, social psychology, substance abuse and addiction as well as full-text coverage of many core titles included in Sociological Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts. Coverage 1985 - Current.

Anthropology and Archaeology

AnthroSource
A searchable database of more than 250,000 articles and scientific research information spanning the fields of social, biological, and linguistic anthropology, and archaeology.

Education

ERIC
The primary database for the discipline of education and the largest source of education information. The database contains more than one million abstracts (and some full text) of education-related documents and journal articles, with coverage back to 1966.

Healthcare and Medicine

Health & Safety Science Abstracts
Provides a comprehensive, timely survey of recent work relating to public health, safety, and industrial hygiene. Coverage from 1981 - present includes consumer and recreational safety, medical safety, epidemiology and public health, ergonomics, and food and drugs.

PubMed
Published by the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, includes over 24 million citations for biomedical articles dating back to 1947. Includes peer-reviewed abstracts and full text. A good source for clinical trial information.

Psychology

PsycINFO
From the American Psychological Association (APA), contains more than 2 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, in psychology and related disciplines, dating as far back as the 1800s. Includes resources on related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, anthropology, business, law, and more.​

Mapping, Research, and Presentation Tools

Esri Community Analyst
A mapping solution that provides vital information about an area's demographic, health, economic, and business conditions using instant reports, interactive color-coded maps, and queries. Thousands of data variables are available for analysis. Community Analyst is useful for government agencies, policy makers, and non-government organizations who need to support policy and resource allocation decisions with up-to-date facts. Provides data for customer, user-specified areas such as census tracts or ZIP codes.

Social Explorer
Research tool designed to provide quick and easy access to current and historical census data and demographic information. A comprehensive data source, this research tool allows the user to survey and map defined geographic areas by population, education, marital status, ancestry, income, age, and more.